Container closure and dispenser for semiliquid products



April 21, 1942. G. p. RECHT-EN 2,280,263

CONTAINER CLOURE AND DISPENSER FOR SEMILIQUID PRODUCTS Filed Aug. 23. 1959 11v VENTOR BY Geqr e D. fiechfien Patented Apr. 21, 1942 ()FFICE CONTAINER CLOSURE AND DISPENSER FOR SEMILIQUID PRODUCTS George D. Rechten, Los Angeles, Calif.. Application August 23, 1939, Serial No. 291,570

4 Claims.

The invention relates to a closure for a container and a dispenser corporated therewith for semi-liquid products, such as catsup and the like,

Heretofore in dispensing catsup either for home or restaurant use, after the seal is broken a metal cap is replaced on the bottle and after a while the contents of i the bottle become congealed around the mouth thereof and also the metal cap and the liquid becomes darkened, making an unsightly and unsanitaryappearance, and the congealing of the liquid around the mouth of the bottle materially interferes with the subsequent dispensing thereof, and many times, results in the product splattering when a quantity thereof is desired for use; and an object of my invention is to provide a novel dispensing device which will eliminate the foregoing difficulty.

Another object of the invention is to provide a dispensing device which may be associated with catsup bottles. of present make and whereby a pre-determined uantity of catsup may be forced onto the food or plate as desired, and which may be easily and quickly attached to and removed from a container and cleansed and made available for use on subsequent container. Another object of the invention is toprovide a novel dispenser and closure member whereby operation of the dispenser will prevent spilling and overflow and when not in use provides a seal z to exclude atmospheric air from the interior of the container.

A still further object is to provide a novel dispenser that is simple in construction, yet sturdy and inexpensive to manufacture.

A still further object is to provide a novel dispenser and closure for containers which when associated with the container will enhance the appearance of the container.

It is to be understood that in this application wherever the term catsup is used, the appli cant is not necesarily limited to associating the closure and dispensing device to articles of that.

character, but the device may be made in various sizes to adapt itself to different containers having different sizes of openings and which may be used in dispensing preferably semi-liquid fluids; so that wherever in this specification the term catsup is used and which will be used hereafter for the purposes of simplification, it is intended to embrace all analogous food products with which the device may be used.

other objects, advantages and features of invention may appear from the accompanying drawing, subjoined detail description and the appended claims.

The accompanying drawing illustrates the invention in some of the forms I at present deem preferable.

Figure 1 is a side elevational view of my novel container closure and dispenser in closed position and dotted lines indicate the fragment of a container with which my device is adapted to be associated. Fig. 2 is an enlarged axial sectional view of my novel container closure and dispenser, but partially moved to open or dispensing position; dotted lines indicate the position of the dispensing plunger when moved to closed position.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged transverse sectional view takenon lines 3-3, Fig. 1,

Fig, 4 is a transverse sectional view taken on lines 4--4, Fig. 2, and looking in the direction of the arrows.

Fig. 5 is a side elevational view, partly in section, to disclose interior parts of a modified form of my invention.

Fig. 6 is a side elevational View, partly in section, to disclose interior parts of a modified form of my invention.

Fig. '11s a top plan view of the device shown in Fig. 6.

In the device shown in Figs. 1-4, the numeral l indicates the closure member and dispenser attached to a bottle 2, shown in dotted lines in Fig. 1.

My novel container closure and dispenser comprises a barrel 3 which is closed at one end 4 ex cept for the dispensing opening 5 and is formed at its other end with a plurality of openings 6 by leaving the plurality of prongs I which at their lower ends are slightly bent inwardly as will be more fully hereinafter explained.

At the upper end of the barrel 3 is provided a barrel flange 8 that is secured to the barrel 3 in any suitable manner, the lower side of which is adapted to engage the openings 9 in the container or catsup bottle 2 and forms a seal therearound,

Slidably mounted on the barrel 3 is a retainer ring 10 which (although not perceptible in the drawing) is slightly tapered inwardly toward its open end ll so that when the same is slipped over the opening 9 of the bottle 2, the retainer ring will engage the usual bead l2 on the bottle and retain the dispensing device thereon, and prevent accidental disengagement therefrom, and maintain an air-tight seal between the flange 8 and the open end of the bottle 2.

Dispensing means A are slidably associated with the barrel I and comprise a shaft I3 having a valve l4 secured to its lower end and a handle member I5 secured at its opposite end. The shaft i3 is provided at its lower end and slightly spaced from the valve M with a shoulder for regulating the flow of the liquid being dispensed.

The stop or shoulder [6 extends upwardly from the valve 4 and when the shaft I3 is extended outwardly from the barrel 3 the stop IE will space the plunger M a short distance from the opening 5,.the purpose of which will be hereinafter more fully referred to.

The underside of the handle I5 is provided with an orifice plug or shut-01f member I! which is beveled as more particularly shown in Fig. 2 on its exterior surface l8 inwardly and is adapted to be received in the arcuate orifice or opening 5, more particularly shown in Fig. 3. The shut-oil or orifice plug is more particularly shown in Figs. 2 and 4 and in section in Fig. 3. The shut-off plug I! by being constructed in the manner indicated when moved to closed position tends to form a more or less knife edge to commence sealing the orifice 5 on its inner surface and still leaves room for atmospheric air to enter the orifice so that when the valve 14 is moved inwardly, a suctional effect will properly operate to withdraw the liquid in the container thereby preventing spilling or contamination around the opening and when the handle I5 is moved to fully closed position, the shut-off plug will completely seal the orifice 5 thereby preventing atmospheric air to enter the container and maintain the product therein in a condition whereby the same will not have a tendency to oongeal around the opening of the bottle or container and leave an unappetizing sight.

It will be apparent that the retainer ring may be made in various diameters interiorly so that the same may adapt the dispensing device to fit different sizes of containers thereby aiding in economy of manufacture to adapt the device to different sizes of containers by merely making the retainer ring of various diameters and the flange 8 of various diameters to obtain the sealing effect.

In operation of the device shown in Figs. 1-4 it will be apparent that when the device has been attached to a container having semi-liquid contents such as catsup and the like, by removing the usual cover of the container and fitting my dispenser to the opening and which is retained thereon by a snap action of the retainer ring around the usual bead found on bottles of this type; and that when the container is tilted so that the device is in a position as indicated in Fig. 2, or in other words, is held in one hand and tilted to a pouring position, the contents of the container will automatically flow through the opening 6 and gather ahead of the valve l4 inside of the barrel 3. The operator may then eject a predetermined portion of such gathered contents through the opening by pulling outwardly on the handle iii to a pre-defor more effective operation of the plunger and dispensing device. It will be noted that the opening 6 does not extend along the barrel 3 to such an extent that the plunger [4 will not ultimately close oil the opening between the contents of the container and the dispensing orifice 5. In the event the quantity of catsup dispensed by operation of the full length throat of the plunger is not sufficient, the operator may continue the operation of the plunger or shaft [3 to obtain the desired quantity of catsup. It will also be apparent that if the operator does not desire the quantity of catsup that may be dispensed by the full throat of the plunger that he may stop at any desired point.

After the desired quantity or catsup has been dispensed upon forcing the plunger or valve l4 into the container the same will create a suction by virtue of the atmospheric pressure applied to the orifice 5 and the contact of the walls of the valve M with the interior of the barrel 3 so as to suck the catsup back into the container and then the orifice plug or shut-01f will engage in the orifice 5 and effectively seal the contents of the container from the atmosphere.

In Fig. 5 I have shown a modified form of the device in which the barrel 3' is of the same construction as the lower ends of the barrel 3 in Fig. l and substantially the only difference between the construction shown in Fig. 5 and that in Fig. 1 is the design of the upper end of the barrel 3 and the shaft 3' being made square instead of round as shown in Figs. 1-4, the orifice a in the modification shown in Fig. 5 is formed integral with the upper end of the barrel 3 and is adapted to be received over the usual bead on the container to which it is adapted to be fitted.

The upper end of the dispensing device is, as shown, more or less dome-shaped and is provided with an exterior member b that is provided at its upper end with a circular hole 0 through which the square shaft d extends and termined distance or to the outward limits of the scope of the shaft if desired.

The tongues I at the lower end of the barrel 3 are slightly tapered inwardly so that the valve M will have a frictional engagement with the interior of the barrel 3 so that frictional contact at all times during operation of the valve inside of the barrel 3 will be maintained thereby providing is adapted to rotate. Interiorly of the member I), I provide a rotatable member e which has a sliding fit with the member b and both members b and e are provided with orifices j through which material may be expelled. The member e may be provided with a depending shoulder g which cooperates with the shoulder or stop I 6 to limit the outward movement of the piston M.

In operation of the device shown in Fig. 5, the handle member i5 is grasped to bring into alinement the orifices j and then the handle is pulled outwardly in the same manner as hereinbefore described to dispense the liquid. The shaft (1 being square and slidably mounted through the square opening h in the shoulder 9 will rotate the member e as desired and will not aiTect the member b because of the circular opening 0 through which the square shaft d may freely rotate. Otherwise, the construction of the device shown in Fig. 5 is the same as in the device shown in Figs. 1-4.

The upper end i of the shaft 11 is indicated as being round and is secured to the handle member i5 in any suitable way. However, it is contemplated at present that the material from which the device is made will be of a phenol compositon and the shaft may be connected to the handle membersby cementing the same thereto preferably by using acetone which tends to weld the parts together.

The dome-shaped upper end of the dispensing device shown in Fig. 5 tends to accumulate a conretainer ring l0;

design and particularly of the opening 52, aknife siderable quantity of the liquid tobe dispensed and thereby aid in the dispensing operation.

It will be noted that in this construction the inner member ehas a circular action relative to i the exterior member b and that all the operator need do to open the orifices f is to rotate the handle until the orifices are'in alinement and when it is desired to close the same thehandlemember is merely rotated to accomplish that result. 1

In the construction shown in Figs. 6 and '7, I

haveprovided a modified form, of device which.

presents a slightly different appearanceat' the top of the dispensing apparatus and also provides what might be termed a knife edge cut-off.

In thisconstruction the parts are substantially the outer end of said barrel, and a closure mem- .ber mounted on the outer end of said shaft, said closure member entering said discharge opening. on inward travel ofsaid shaft.

2. A dispensing device and closure member comprising a barrel member adapted to be secured in the opening of a container, said barrel member having a discharge opening formed in the end thereof, said opening having its mouth at the external surface of said barrel, a closure member for said opening rotatably mounted in teriorly of said opening, said barrel member having an inlet opening in its sides at the inner the same asshown inFig. 5,as wellas hereto;

fore previously described in connection with:

Figs. 1-4, excepting the shape and upper end of the dispensingappa'ratus.

In the constructiondisclosed in Figs. 6 and 7, the upper member 50 is, secured to the retainer ring H)" in any suitable manner preferably by an acetone solution and the inner member 5| is ro tatably associated with the member 50 and the but due'to the style of the edge cut-off offthe fluid from the atmosphere is obtained. M d v v After the device has been used to dispense the contents of a container, the same maybe easily end thereof, a shaft member longitudinally disposed with respecttto said barrel andmounted forslidable axial movement. with respect thereto, said shaft member having at its inner end a plunger cooperating with the bore of said barrel and being movable bysaid shaft member between a position interior of said inlet opening and a position near the outer end of said barrel,

and said shaft having a non-circular cross-secl tion for at least a portion of its len th, said porti-on cooperatively engaging the closure member, whereby rotation of said shaft member actuates said closure member and reciprocation of said u shaft member dispenses the contents of the conremoved therefrom and cleansed and it is of pleasing appearance and makes provision for the dispensing of' catsup and similar food products much morepractical, eflicient and leaving the container in an appetizing appearance besides preventing, atmospheric air from entering the container and congealing the food product.

The device is preferably made from acid-re sis-ting material such as hereinbefore referred to so that the contents of the container such as if 3. A dispensing device and closure member comprising a barrel member adapted to be secured inthe opening of a container, saidbarrel member having a dischargeopening inthe outer end thereof and bei g provided with a plurality of inlet openings in the sides of the inner end' thereof, a shaft member longitudinally disposed with respect to said barrel and mounted for slidable axial movement with respect thereto, said shaft member having at its inner end a plunger cooperating with the bore of said barrel and being movable by said shaft member between a position interior of said inlet openings and a catsup will not have a chemical reaction thereon and the various parts may be secured together wherever such construction is required by an acetonesealing' means.

Although several specific forms ofdevices have been shown and described, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that numerous changes maybe made in its construction, and all changes and modifications coming within the scope of r the appended claims are embraced in myinvention. 1

I'claimr w v l. A dispensing device and closure member comprising a barrel memberadapted to be secured in the opening of a container, said barrel member having a discharge. opening in the outer end thereof and being provided with aplurality of openings in the sides at the inner end thereof a shaft member longitudinally disposed with respect to-said barrel andmounted for slidable axial movement with respect thereto, said shaft member having at its inner end a plunger cooperating with thebore of said barrel and bein movable by said shaft member between a position interior of said openings'anda position near ing transversely of the barrel axis under influa ence ofthe plunger.

position near the outer end of said barrel, and a tapered closure member mounted on the outer end of said shaft, said closure member entering said discharge opening on inward travel of said shaft.

4. A dispensing device and closure member comprising a barrel adapted to be secured in the opening of a container, said barrel having a discharge opening at its outer end and a plurality of serrations extending from the opposite end providing yieldable tongues directed inwardly from the normal surface of the barrel and intermediate openings forming inlets to the barrel, a

shaft longitudinally disposed with respect to the barrel and mounted for slidable axial movement with respect thereto, a plunger on the irmer end of the shaft and cooperating with the bore of the barrel and movable by the shaft between a position interior of the openings and a position near the outer end of the barrel, the plunger contacting the yieldable tongues whereby movement of the plunger is resisted, the tongues yield- GEORGE D. RECHTEN. 

